The Interview
by JaggerK
Summary: Lois Lane goes on a mission for Clark Kent to determine if there is a indeed a lurking danger to Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson - Selina Kyle. Lois/Selina Bonding. One-Shot.


Takes place before 'Spay and Neuter' and' 'Father of the Year'.

As per usual, I own nothing but the story itself.

 _SELINA KYLE'S OFFICE_

 _KYLE FOUNDATION_

 _WAYNE TOWER_

Lois Lane sat in a comfortable chair reception area outside the office of Selina Kyle. The woman in question was fifteen minutes late for their interview. Lois frowned at the efficient admin seated at the desk across from her.

The admin smiled back. "I apologize for the delay. Miss Kyle should be here any moment."

"I will give her five more minutes." Lois said irritably. "This is far longer than I would normally wait."

"I assure you that this was an emergency that could not be avoided Miss Lane. Your time is appreciated by not only Miss Kyle but me and the Foundation." The admin smiled again. "Especially since you came all the way from Metropolis."

The elevator doors slid open at that moment and Selina Kyle stepped out. Her long ebony hair was swept up and back, emerald eyes glittered in annoyance. The expensive business suit was cut to drape in right all the ways and accentuate her beautiful figure.

"I took care of it. They'll be stinging for a while." Selina spoke into the phone she held to one ear. She paused, obviously listening, and then sighed. "I'm not saying you shouldn't speak to the school. What happened was unacceptable and they tried to place the blame on him, not the bullies." She paused again. "I have the interview with the Daily Planet but then I'll have Andrea clear my afternoon. We'll get ice cream, play some video games, I might even let him win."

"Hey!" The indignant voice drew Lois' eye from Selina to the dark haired boy holding her hand. Was that Dick Grayson? There had been a flurry of articles about him when Bruce Wayne had made the boy his ward but he'd kept the boy mostly out of the media. "I might win on my own!"

"Absolutely." Selina smiled down at the boy and then turned her attention back to her phone. "Darling, honestly, we're fine. I have to go now. I'll get him safely home."

Selina turned her dazzling smile to Lois. "Miss Lane, I truly do apologize. The delay simply couldn't be avoided. Although, I thought we were meeting in a boardroom upstairs." She glanced at her admin.

"There was some sort of problem with the booking system." Andrea explained. "We got bumped out and all the rooms are booked."

"Ah, I see." Selina wasn't happy about this development at all. She certainly wouldn't have brought Dick near a reporter, even this reporter. She smiled at Lois again. "I just need one more minute."

"Of course, Miss Kyle." Lois wondered about the current situation. Something involving bullies had happened at the boy's school but why would Selina Kyle have gone to deal with it instead of Bruce Wayne? They were certainly linked consistently in the society pages but nothing concrete enough to suggest she would be called to the school instead of the boy's guardian.

Selina turned to Andrea. "Andrea, would you mind-"

"Already working on it." Andrea flicked her eyes up from her computer screen. "Dick and I can hang out here until you're ready to go."

"You're a lifesaver." She turned back to Lois and motioned for her to follow her in to the office.

"Would you like something to drink? Water? Coffee? Tea?" Selina asked.

"Water would be lovely." Lois told her. Selina grabbed two bottles of water out of the bar on the far wall of her office, handing one to Lois as she rounded her desk to sit down.

"I have to say, Miss Lane," Selina settled in to her chair, cracking the bottle of water open. "I was surprised that it was you the Planet sent for this interview. It doesn't seem like your normal style."

"Call me Lois. Please." Lois sent her an easy smile as she crossed her legs. "It's not normally but your foundation has done some wonderful things for some very deserving causes. Causes I believe in. In all modesty, an article in the Planet with my byline can only help your foundation. Although, maybe with your Wayne connections you won't need the kind of publicity I can bring you."

Selina moved forward in her chair and narrowed her eyes. Lois felt pinned like a mouse being watched by a cat. She had interviewed warlords and dictators, been in warzones but this woman...concerned her. That was impressive.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Selina hissed. "Are you suggesting I would use my relationship with Dick to get publicity for the Foundation or myself? Get out of my office, Miss Lane. If there's a hint in the media of my involvement with Dick I will make your life miserable."

Lois held her hands up, palms out in a gesture of peace. "That was the reaction I was hoping for."

"Excuse me?" Selina snarled.

"Best of intentions, I swear. Cards on the table?" Lois waited until Selina nodded stiffly. "I've known Bruce for a while now. Not the easiest man to get close to or even to get to know but he's important to someone who's very important to me so I've made the effort. Bruce has become very important to me as well."

"Yes, I believe I know who you're talking about." _The Boy Scout, this is all about him_ , Selina thought.

"Good." Lois nodded. "Then I think it's safe to say that you'll know I'm not digging but that I have reason to already know the things I'm going to say."

Selina sat silently watching her so Lois continued. "First off, I want to say that my intentions to the article and your Foundation are exactly what I said they were. The work you do is very important and I believe in it. You've worked hard to get where you are and I want to do justice to both those things. That said, when this article was proposed by my editor I convinced him to give it to me instead of someone else for personal reasons not journalistic ones."

"And those would be?" Selina asked warily.

"I wanted to meet you." Lois stated. "I wanted to see who would so captivate Bruce, _all_ of him that it would concern this person in my life so much."

The slight emphasis on the word 'all' hadn't escaped Selina's notice. She pondered her response for a moment. "Perhaps this person is making too much of things. Bruce and I lead fairly separate lives, separate residences, no public announcements have been made. We've even been known to see other people."

"Yes, I've seen the papers, heard the gossip, but you always end up back around to each other. Also, I have that inside knowledge I mentioned before." Lois picked up a jade paperweight off the desk and met Selina's eyes. "This is a lovely _cat_. Was it a gift from Bruce?"

The emerald eyes betrayed no expression but Lois wasn't surprised. Clark had complained that Selina must have learned that trick from Bruce. He had never confirmed that Selina Kyle and Catwoman were the same person but he disliked them both. He also had vented to her about Bruce's relationship with Selina and Batman's with Catwoman. She didn't believe for one minute that he could be as captivated as Clark claimed with two different women. It didn't take a genius or an investigative reporter to figure out that Selina had to be Catwoman.

"I don't think you came here to ask me about my office décor." Selina leaned back in her chair.

"No." Lois placed the jade cat back down on the desk. "I wanted to meet you. Form my own opinion."

"Let's not beat around the bush here. Clark, because it is Clark, doesn't trust me." Selina smirked. "Does Bruce honestly strike you as the type who needs protecting from me? I think it's safe to say that Bruce is savvy enough to handle me in any incarnation. Clark can stop worrying."

"I've told him that and for a while that worked. Oh, he fretted – an old fashioned word but it works well for Clark – but nothing too strenuous." Lois paused and glanced over her shoulder at the door leading into the outer office. "Then Bruce made a big change in his life. Now Clark does a lot more than fret."

Lois watched Selina waiting for her reaction. Would it be an explosion of anger? Indignation at the suggestion that she was a threat to Dick? To her surprise Selina simply sighed.

"I suppose I can't fault him for that." Selina chuckled at the surprised look on Lois' face. "Not the reaction you were expecting?"

"Not really, no." Lois shrugged. "I've taken most of what Clark has said about you, both sides, with a grain of salt. He has a fairly black and white view of the world. Quite often a fairly naïve one too when you consider who he is so I've thought he might be seeing the situation clearly. I certainly have thought that Bruce was capable of making his own decisions on the matter. Then Dick came on the scene so I thought meeting you might allow me to go home and tell him he has nothing to worry about."

"Or you could call him and tell him he has to meet you at the Manor to put an end to this right away." Selina's lips curved.

"That thought was a very small one at the back of my mind." Lois' lips curved in response. "You're being very reasonable about all of this."

"Clark's heart is in the right place. Dick's very special and I know that Clark wants what's best for him. I would never hurt him. I would do anything to protect him." She smirked at Lois. "I would have taken him to Bruce's admin instead of bringing him to mine if I had known you would be here waiting for me instead in a boardroom."

Lois was curious. "One that note, what happened at the school?"

"No." Selina frowned.

"Sorry. Reporter's curiosity." Lois smiled. "Won't happen again."

Selina nodded. "Clark may not approve of me but Bruce would never let me near Dick if he was concerned about me not being good for him or what I might do to him. Whatever his personal attachments to me might be I would be cut off from his life if I wasn't good for Dick. Or if Dick didn't like me."

"He does seem to like you quite a lot but certainly not because you let him win at video games." Lois commented.

"No, Dick is highly intelligent and equally competitive. He doesn't want me to let him win. He wants to earn it. One doesn't perform as part of one of the best aerialist acts in the world at such a young age without having a high drive. It's something that needs to be encouraged. It will certainly serve him well in the worlds Bruce lives in, don't you think?"

Lois looked startled. "Are you saying Bruce is planning to train him?"

"No. I know his intention is to not have him do what we do but the road to Hell and all that. Think who the most important figures are in his life right now. Bruce, me, Clark." Selina paused and her eyes met Lois'. "I think Bruce is kidding himself that Dick isn't going to end up right where we are. Much faster than we would all want him too."

Lois nodded. "I think you have a point. I get why Clark doesn't bother you but most people would be a little intimidated when his other side is irritated with them constantly."

"I'm not most people." Selina's smile was feline. "Irritated or not the Boy Scout doesn't bother me. Besides, you do remember who I've maintained a long term relationship with?"

"True." Lois' eyes sparkled. "Clark tells me most of the others, not the founders the newbies, won't look him in the eyes. Lenses. Whatever. It can't be easy being in a relationship with him."

Selina laughed, low and rich. "Oh, he must love that." She grinned at Lois. "He does like to make it a challenge but it's never boring. I like it that way. I'm sure your situation isn't easy either."

Lois turned her words back at her. "He does like to make it a challenge but it's never boring. I like it that way."

Both women laughed.

"Maybe we should start on this interview so you and Dick can get on to important things like ice cream and video games." Lois set her recorder on the desk.

Selina nodded. "Yes, let's do that."

 _ONE HOUR LATER_

Selina and Lois emerged from the office laughing to find Dick and Andrea playing cards.

"Andrea." Selina sighed. "Are you teaching him how to play poker?"

"Poker is an important life skill." Andrea told her seriously.

"Andrea says she can teach me to be better than you." Dick didn't even look up from his cards.

"It's so important to have goals." Selina ruffled his hair and he squirmed under her hand. "Dick." She waited until he looked up at her. "This is Lois Lane. She works for the Daily Planet."

Dick looked from Selina to Lois and back to Selina. Blue eyes met green in a silent moment of communication before Dick looked back at Lois and offered her his hand. "Hello. I met Mr. Kent from the Daily Planet. Do you work with him?"

Lois marveled at the level of maturity the boy displayed and the communication she had seen go back and forth. She wouldn't have seen it if she hadn't been looking for it. She shook Dick's hand. "Yes, I do. Clark and I are very good friends. He liked you a lot when he met you for the interview. "

Selina rested one hand on Dick's shoulder. "Thank you for coming all the way here to do the interview and for putting up with our delay. It is appreciated."

"The Foundation and the work it does are certainly worth it. It was wonderful getting to meet you finally Selina." Lois grinned down at Dick. "You too Dick. I'll be in touch if I have any more questions."

With that she turned and headed to the elevator. Selina looked down at Dick.

"How about we head out and grab some ice cream? Before Andrea turns you into a card sharp?" Selina teased. Dick nodded eagerly.

 _SELINA KYLE'S PENTHOUSE_

 _LATER THAT EVENING_

Lois Lane sat on the couch with her head tipped back a glass of wine gripped lightly in her hand. She moaned slightly and lifted her head to look at Selina in the chair opposite her.

"I'm going to explode. That food was divine." She gestured with her glass. "This wine is heavenly."

"I would like to take credit for both but the food was all Alfred and Bruce sent the wine." Selina smiled. "But yes, on both points."

"How do you do this?" Lois questioned. "You're there all the time. He sends food here. Yet look at you."

"Rooftops. Grappling. Beating up bad guys." Selina smirked. "I highly recommend it. Then there is another extra-curricular that I'm particularly fond of that is a great cardiovascular workout." She frowned at her wine glass. "Although, eight year olds with nightmares put a crimp in that activity."

Lois winced. "Bad?"

"Getting better." Selina sighed. "Still, sometimes he needs to crawl in with whichever of us has made it to Bruce's bed. Both of us if he's lucky. That bed hasn't seen this much lack of action since before Bruce turned eighteen."

Lois choked on her wine. "Eighteen?"

"Ha. Sorry. Alfred just had rules about what went on in the Manor before Bruce was legally an adult." Selina laughed. "I mean, Bruce was pretty focused as a teenager but he wasn't _dead_."

"I have to ask, I appreciate the invite, the food, the wine, God do I appreciate the wine, but what is this little evening about?" Lois watched Selina carefully.

"I talked to Bruce about you today. He trusts you. I'm sure you know that he doesn't trust easily." Selina waited until Lois nodded. "It's very hard to have friends with the lives we lead. True friends who know what we do, what we go through, that can be trusted. I hoped maybe we could be friends. Two smart, strong capable women with unique boyfriends no one else can understand." She flashed a grin at Lois.

"Is that what we're calling them now? 'Unique'? Cause, honey, yours is downright odd and mine is" Lois thought about it for a moment. "yeah maybe 'unique' covers it."

"See? This could work out for both of us. They're nowhere near the same but their uniqueness makes them similar." Selina's smile faded. "Clark isn't alone in his thinking, you know. There are only a couple of people in the League who don't hold my past against me. I understand if you don't want this to cause problems with Clark."

"Clark doesn't get to pick my friends for me." Lois' tone was slightly annoyed.

"Of course not but he has those freaking puppy dog eyes and I wouldn't want you to have to put up with that." The smile was back on Selina's face.

Lois waved a hand. "I can handle the puppy dog eyes." She considered Selina. "The fact that this would freak Clark out wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it?"

"Let's call that bonus points, shall we?" Selina grinned devilishly.

Lois threw her head back and laughed.


End file.
